If Major League Baseball seeks to realign to balance the leagues at 15 teams apiece, the Diamondbacks are a prime candidate to change leagues. President/CEO Derrick Hall acknowledged that Arizona or the Houston Astros would be the most logical candidates to switch leagues and said the organization is open to considering the move "if it is in the best interests of baseball."
But Hall also said the D-Backs would have to balance those interests against "the best interest of our fans. "I personally would push back and prefer the NL," he continued. Those comments seem to hedge the organization's acceptance of the idea more than what Hall was quoted as saying in Tuesday's USA Today: "We would do whatever's best for baseball."
The idea behind realignment would be to level the odds of qualifying for postseason play, which are more favorable for American League teams (four out of 14) than the NL (four of 16). But two leagues of 15 teams would require season-long interleague play.
A shift of the Astros would align them in the AL West with their geographical rival, the Texas Rangers. If the D-backs were to go to the AL, the Astros could replace them in the NL West with Colorado, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.
A move would enable the D-backs to play a home series each year against the Red Sox and Yankees, who have regularly sold out Chase Field in their infrequent interleague series. But it would deprive them of regular meetings with the Cubs, who draw well in Arizona because of their long spring-training ties and the large number of Chicago transplants in the Phoenix area.
"I don't want to be moved," D-backs catcher Miguel Montero said. "I like the NL. We've been a National League team the whole time."
League affiliation is not a new issue for the franchise. When baseball expanded into Phoenix in the 1990s, there was initial sentiment to make it an American League franchise. But then-majority owner Jerry Colangelo fought against it, declaring Phoenix a "National League city" because of allegiances forged through the Giants' Triple-A franchise in the city, the close proximity to Los Angeles and daily radio broadcasts of Dodgers games in the market, and the area's long-established affinity for the Cubs.
The whole issue of realignment could be seen as a chip in the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. The agreement expires after this season.